- Singaporean greetings vary between the major ethnic groups.
- A handshake generally suffices as the appropriate greeting between two people. However, Malay or Indian Singaporeans may not wish to shake hands with the opposite gender.
- A Singaporean’s handshake may be quite light and held for a longer duration.
- Older Singaporeans may use both hands to shake, placing the second hand on the other person’s wrist or on top of the the handshake.
- Similar to the Australian habit of asking “How are you going?” during greetings, Singaporeans may greet one another by saying “Hello, have you eaten yet?” (or something to that effect). The question is customary and does not necessarily mean the person has a genuine curiosity about whether you are hungry or not. The usual reply is a short "Yes, thank you" or "I’m going to, thank you" with a nod and smile before moving onto the rest of the conversation.
Singaporean Culture
Greetings
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Singapore
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Population5,781,728[July 2016 est.]
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LanguagesMandarin (36.3%)English (29.8%) (second language to most)Malay (11.9%)Hokkien (8.1%)Tamil (4.4%)Cantonese (4.1%)Teochew (3.2%)Other (3.4%)[2010 est.]
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ReligionsBuddhism (33.9%)No Religion (16.4%)Islam (14.3%)Taoism (11.3%)Catholic Christianity (7.1%)Hinduism (5.2%)Christianity [ndf] (11%)Other (0.7%)[2010 est.]
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EthnicitiesChinese (74.2%)Malay (13.3%)Indian (9.2%)Other (3.3%)[2016 est.]
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Cultural Dimensions
Power Distance 74 Individualism 20 Masculinity 48 Uncertainty Avoidance 8 Long Term Orientation 72 Indulgence 46 What's this?
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Australians with Singaporean Ancestry8,389 [2016 census]
Singaporeans in Australia
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Population54,939[2016 census]This figure refers to the number of Australian residents that were born in Singapore.
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Average Age36
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GenderFemale (54.6%)Male (45.4%)
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ReligionCatholic Christianity (20.3%)No Religion (20.1%)Buddhism (10.8%)Anglican Christianity (7.5%)Other (41.3%)
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AncestryChinese (49.2%)Indian (8.4%)English (8.4%)Singaporean (6.3%)Other (27.7%)
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Language Spoken at HomeEnglish (48.3%)Mandarin (27.7%)Cantonese (7.7%)Malay (5.8%)Other (10.5%)Of those who speak a language other than English at home, 95.8% speak English fluently.
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DiasporaWestern Australia (28.7%)Victoria (28.2%)New South Wales (23.1%)Queensland (12.3%)
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Arrival to AustraliaPrior to 2001 (49.2%)2001-2006 (21.9%)2007-2011 (25.3%)
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